By Evans Dakwa
Beitbridge– Vice President Kembo Mohadi traced his footsteps back to where his education started back in the early 1960s at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe run Beitbridge Mission Primary School and boy wasn’t he impressed by how the institution is walking the talk in implementing heritage based education 5.0 and making sure no one is left behind.
As he was taken on a tour of the school, the Vice President was in awe as he entered the special needs education department which is catering for 65 students with visual, hearing, speech, intellectual, physical impairments; this even though they are constrained with resources.
The Vice President hailed the efforts of the school’s management as he was shown how special needs education children are accommodated promising to do more to help the school realise its quest for inclusivity in the delivering of their education.
As he donated twenty laptops, 2 tablets and an additional 10 desktops to the school in support of the Second Republics digitalisation strategy, Vice President Mohadi said ICTs are a key pillar in the development trajectory being undertaken by the Government.
“Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), are key enablers of economic development to the extent that the entrenchment of ICTs across all national development strategies is critical for attainment of universal access to Information Technology by 2030. ICT enhances other National Priorities. It gives advisory services, automation of mechanization and irrigation, precision farming such as drip irrigation, fertigation and smart greenhouses and use of satellite technology to provide real time information on areas under different crops, enhances Mining Research and adoption of ICTs (Computerized Mining Cadastre Information Management System), smart health and smart transport and safe cities through using ICTs,” said the Vice President.
He also took the opportunity to reiterate the country’s push towards universal access to ICT’s through making sure it cascades to the lowest ebb of society.
“When it comes to access and usage of ICT, the country intends to have internet access at village level by 2030, through the extension of the fibre optic backbone, and last mile connectivity. In this regard, Government, during NDS1 Period, targets to increase Internet penetration rate from 59.1% in 2020 to 75.42% by 2025,” he said.
Aside the ICT that is expected to go a long way in helping Beitbridge Mission Primary School reach its ICT goals, the Vice President also donated 40kgs of bean seed, 100kgs sorghum seed, 60kgs of cowpeas and 200kgs of pearl millet to his former school.